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New York among states that doesn't require deer hunters to don blaze orange

Updated November 29, 2016 at 2:47 PM;Posted November 29, 2016 at 2:41 PM

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Jason Hoffman, of Baldwinsville, left, poses with a nice spike horn buck he shot in Nine Mile State Forest in Cattauraugus County in 2015. Also pictured is his uncle, Terry Hoffman. Both are wearing blaze orange vests.
(Special to NYup.com)

New York is among those states that do not require the wearing of some amount of blaze orange-colored clothing as a safety measure while deer hunting.

It is highly recommended, though. The reason is that deer don't see the color orange and it dramatically increases the visibility of one hunter to another. However, no law is broken if a hunter chooses to take to the woods without.

According to the DEC website: "While not required by law, more than 80 percent of big game hunters, as well as two out of three small game hunters, wear hunter orange."

New York's fall deer hunting scene has seen three accidental firearm-related fatal incidents so far -- one was self-inflicted -- with less than two weeks to go in the Southern Zone hunting season.

A fourth fatal was reported on opening day when a man fell from a tree stand.

For perspective, last year's deer hunting season was among the safest in the state's history, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. There were a total of 23 hunting incidents, the third lowest number on record, with 10 incidents self-inflicted and 13 two-party incidents. It was the first year since the 1950s that were no shooting accident fatalities.

Could a requirement that hunters in this state wear orange possibly have prevented any of this year's fatals? It's unclear as investigations are continuing and not all the facts have come out in the incidents.

Meanwhile, more than 30 states by law require hunters to wear blaze orange during the firearms season, according to the International Hunter Education Association. They include Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Colorado, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Arkansas.

States like New York, that recommend hunters wear blaze orange but don't require it include Vermont, New Hampshire, California, Alaska and Hawaii.

Last year's DEC firearm accident report from the 2015 hunting season did note, though, that "eight of the victims in the multi-party incidents were not wearing hunter orange."

The DEC said accidents can be prevented if hunters follow the primary rules of hunter safety when out with a firearm:

* Assume every firearm is loaded; * Control the firearm muzzle in a safe direction; * Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to fire; * Identify your target and what is beyond; and * Wear hunter orange.

Mike Arnold, of Camillus, a former master hunting course instructor, sadly noted that this year's hunting-related fatals "are all tragedies I wouldn't wish on anyone."

Arnold said he always stressed the wearing of blaze orange to his students when teaching his hunter safety courses.

"The bottom line, though, is that it is every hunter's ethical and moral responsibility to know your target, along with what's in front of it and behind it, before pulling a trigger," he said.